4min chapter

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The L.A. Riots | 7. Into Ashes

Slow Burn

CHAPTER

Rodney King's Autobiography

Rodney King was living in studio city, a fluent neighborhood about 20 miles north of south central la. His mother had warned him against using his platform to draw attention to police brutality. But he thought his mother was wrong and knew he had to say something. He dreaded the thought of addressing the public.

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When
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the riots began on april 20 ninth, rodney king was living in studio city, in a fluent neighborhood about 20 miles north of south central la. At first, the uprising gave him a feeling of satisfaction. In his autobiography, king wrote, i am not ashamed to admit that for the first few hours, before i heard about anyone getting killed or even hurt, yet i felt a certain vindication. Later that evening, family and friends showed up with gifts. They brought bottles of jack daniels food and disposable dipers. Ye,
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i me at that time, you know, is like ere by lootin you noa we get a chance to get sin shet ayou know, that type of thing. You y, that's
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johnny kelly, one of rodney king's best friends. You
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know, i couldn't wait for the man to come by. Yo, now he you got some worse an goosy jings. O he he he he so, ha. That was the life at the time that we was living. You know, yo, looked back, you looked back on life, and yo, e like a a that woldn't co but at the same time, whos kiys. We didn't knono better. We didn't give a da. You notice what weis what we're doing. King
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was curious about what was being done in his name, so he pulled on the wig he used to keep from being recognized and drove toward south central. A couple blocks shot of normandy avenue, he stopped. I sensed that terrible presence of hatred that i felt the night of the beating. He wrote, there were sounds like i'd never heard before, like evil erupting. Later that night, king saw news footage of truck driver reginald denny getting beaten. It destroyed me. King
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wrote,
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it affected him that people was getting hurt. It affected him that the buildings was being burnt. But he knew it was all for him. But at the same time, hedid want to see that. By
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the next day, april thirtieth, people had started to notice that king hadn't been seen in public or made a statement.
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Rodney king, the motorist whose beating touchedall this off originally, is keeping a low profile to night, obviously not wanting to be part of the violent aftermath.
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King's civil attorney, steve larman, gave him a call on the morning of may first.
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I said, glen, you're going to say something, because there's people out there screaming rodney king, and there's burning, disluting as all kinds of mahem. By your silence, you condone what they're doing. So you've got to say something. King's mother, odessa, was a devout jehovah's witness
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who was opposed to political statements of any kind. After the beating, she had warned him against using his platform to draw attention to police brutality. Now she once again urged him to stay quiet. She told her son, you had your time in the spotlight, and it done you no good. King dreaded the thought of addressing the public. A high school drop out, he had been a great talker. Now the beating had left him with brain damage, making it even harder for him to communicate. But he thought his mother was wrong. He knew he had to say something.
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He was like, cousin, they want me to, they want me to say a speech. They're saying that i'm promoting this behavior because i haven't said anything. And he was very upset. That's
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on tresia evaret, rodney king's en
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hells like you know, i don't know what to say. What did they what should i say? I said, you should only say what truly comes from your heart, and do not try to write, read any speech that any one has prepared for you.
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Lerman called for a news conference later that afternoon in beverly hills, far from the unrest. He then went to meet king at his apartment. I said,
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now it's not time to any more about what you're going to say. It's time for us to go to a wardrobe. So we walked over to this apartment closet. I'm looking at couple of suits that i'd bought em. I said, oh no, no no. We don't want to have you out there in a n expensive suit. I said him, ha, glen, you remember t v show mister rogers? He said, that kitty show? I said, yes, you're going to put on mister rogers sweater. And so i noticed a pal blue cartigan that we'd goton him a couple of weeks ago. I said, now this is going to little smooth out those big shoulders. He's a big man. And a nice white shirta dark tie. And so he was appropriately groomed for his show. When
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king and lermad arrived for the press conference in beverly hills, they were greeted by a large crowd. It was king's first public appearance in 14 months.

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